Biographical Information

Articles for Liam Moran

Third-Party Cookies and EdTech

In edtech, the demise of third-party cookies may be even more dire than in ad-supported streaming, since course web­sites are typically designed with third­-party in­tegrations that deliver crucial elements of the curriculum and traditionally rely on cookies to allow seamless cross­-domain integration.

Radically Reforming Public Education--and How Video Can Help

By the time stu­dents finish their sophomore year of high school, they should know how much they have yet to learn about financial literacy and maybe even have a good idea of what they want to do in life. This is where streaming media comes in: Online video and books can provide for rich, specialized independent study to any community with motivated students.

The State of Education Video 2024

Is the state of education video in 2024 the quiet before or after the storm? With a pandemic in the rearview mirror, we approach a crossroads where it will be determined whether enterprise-scale video hosting and management services will remain profitable at the prices that schools are willing to carry in the new normal. It's unlikely that we'll cross a point of no return this year, but I recommend keep­ing an eye out for signs that will either allay or am­plify concerns about the long-term future of schools having a degree of ownership and control of the vid­eo services they rely on.

Effective K–12 Video Strategies

The revolutionary change over the past 10 years has made production technologies accessible to teachers and even students. And 4 years ago, of course, almost everyone was forced to rely on educational video to keep schools asfunctional as possible. Today, we can identify several use cases of teacher-produced educational video that are particularly effective.

WCAG 2.2, Web Content Accessibility Standards, and You

Instead of a patchwork of accessibility standards for California, Illinois, Europe, and everywhere else, the current standard is set by a broad cross-section of experts from the industry and published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Backward Design for Educational Video Production

Software developers are trained in accessibility issues for front-end development and basic concepts like labeling control elements and reporting state changes to assistive technology—screen-readers—are part of a professional developer's code testing procedures. Despite this progress, two very different forces are swirling with the potential to push back on the trend towards better technological inclusion of the disabled.

An Impending Accessibility Backlash

Software developers are trained in accessibility issues for front-end development and basic concepts like labeling control elements and reporting state changes to assistive technology—screen-readers—are part of a professional developer's code testing procedures. Despite this progress, two very different forces are swirling with the potential to push back on the trend towards better technological inclusion of the disabled.

Follow-the-Presenter Tools for DIY Instructional Videos

Until fairly recently, if a teacher wanted to produce a DIY instructional video untethered to a fixed point in front of a camera, they'd need to remotely control either a pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) head or a multicamera switcher. With the arrival of competent and inexpensive facial recognition software, several consumer videoconferencing cameras now offer automatic framing to allow teachers or other presenters to move around a scene to better engage with viewers and interact with props and visual aids.

The State of Education Video

Video's role in schools is taken for granted entering 2023, although we should expect to see changes, potentially disruptive, in the educational video market as schools continue to adapt to the aftermath of the COVID-19 state of emergency phase. Despite the widely held belief that video is essential to school operations, expect to see schools roll back their investments in video services, while educators seek out ways to go beyond the basics of video delivery, finding better ways to engage students both with synchronous and asynchronous video.

Learning on YouTube

YouTube Player for Education is something to keep an eye on as it matures in 2023. I don't expect it to be a particularly disruptive technology, but it will prove a welcome way for teachers who are exceptionally on camera to augment their teaching salaries.

Lessons Learned: What the Pandemic Taught Us About Remote Teaching

Although failing to enter the popular lexicon as of yet, the term "emergency remote teaching" (ERT) is intended to avoid conflating what we'd now call "traditional" online education with the improvised adaptation of face-to-face lesson plans and classroom experiences to the synchronous videoconferen­c­ing platform available to any given school dur­ing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teaching With Dante

A commonly used streaming media technology at schools, conference centers, and houses of worship is Dante (Digital Audio Network Through Ethernet). A Dante-enabled device can be plugged into a Dante network using a standard Category 5e or Category 6 network cable; the network connects devices using either 100Mbps or gigabit network switches, typically with Power over Ethernet (PoE) capabilities.

Gear for the HyFlex Teaching and Learning Space

The name of the game for designing a hybrid classroom or meeting space is balancing inclusivity of the remote and on-premise audiences that a colleague sometimes refers to as the "zoomers" and "roomers," respectively. Here's a look at some gear that can help you achieve that balance.

Rotoscope with AI Assist

Want to give your video the look of the "Take on Me" video? Here are some tools and tips that will let you create a rotoscope version.

The Complete Guide to Closed Captions

Closed captioning is legally required for some video, but it's the right thing to do for all video. Beyond the ethical and accessibility considerations, it engages more viewers and makes smart business sense. Here's all you need to know about captioning today.

The State of Education Video 2022

Now that students have returned to the classroom, schools and universities face an existential dilemma about the role video will play going forward.

How to Choose A Video Management System for Schools and Universities

So you need a new video management system (VMS) for your organization? Here are some suggestions for making sure your VMS doesn't compromise your school's or your students' data.

Online Video Learning: Just as Good as In Person?

There's been a lot written about online educational video since the beginning of the pandemic, and the results are surprising, though far from conclusive.

Pandemic Mergers and Acquisitions in Educational Video

Three transactions from the last year illustrate how educational video providers are capitalizing on trends in streaming media, both specific to e-learning and more broadly

How to Design a Hybrid Classroom

In-person or virtual? It's no longer one or the other, and schools and universities need to have clear strategies for delivering hybrid education to their students.

Back to School with New Video Teaching Skills

Educators learned a lot about video learning over the last 18 months. With most schools reopening this fall, how do you integrate those new skills and techniques into the physical classroom?

Reaching the Global Classroom

China provides a particularly interesting global classroom case study, due to both its huge population size and the difficulty of operating in its networks.

Educational Video and Protecting Student Rights

Both student privacy and accessibility need to be considered by any school, college, or university that's using video for education.

The Digital Divide and COVID-19

One of the few upsides of the pandemic is that many schools whose students were on the wrong side of the digital divide now have access to high-speed internet

Rasing the Bar for Educational Video

It's time to "level up" your video instruction strategies. Here are a few concepts to rally around to help you do so.

Are Schools Missing the Podcast Wave?

Podcasts have swelled in popularity. So why aren't more schools and universities riding the rising tide?

Distance Learning and the Digital Divide

University of Illiinois' Liam Moran and Ohio State's Justin Troyer discuss how their schools have made distance learning available to students without laptops and internet access in this clip from Streaming Media East Connect 2020.

School Announcements on Ice(cast)

Some schools are moving to newscast-style video announcements. Icecast offers an effective way to deliver them efficiently and effectively.

The State of Video in Higher Education

2020 is shaping up to be another year in which educational video will undergo a deliberate, well-considered transition rather than any sort of revolutionary transformation. Here's what to keep an eye on.

Tips for Teaching with Video for the First Time

As COVID-19 shuts down universities and school districts, streaming video can save instructors and their students. Here are some tips for how to use it right.

Video Helps Keep Schools Secure

The use of security cameras in schools is growing. Look for educational institutions and vendors to creatively squeeze value from fixed camera systems in schools by expanding the audience for the video footage while avoiding critical safety or privacy problems.

Educators Need Resources That Simulate the Digital Divide

With more learning materials going online, educators need to be sure all their students have access. Learn about programs that show the limits of poor-quality networks.

5 Best Practices for Using a Lightboard in Instructional Videos

Lightboards are great resources for online video learning, and they can be built for under $200. Here are five tips for getting impressive results every time.

Instructional Video in the Academy: In the Can or On-the-Fly?

The use of both asynchronous and synchronous video by colleges and universities has skyrocketed. But which approach is better for learning?

YouTube's Do-it-Yourself Videos Show the Best Teachers Are Online

There are plusses and minuses to having instant access to a world of knowledge, but YouTube's do-it-yourself repair videos are a godsend for technical education.

What Teachers Need to Know When Upgrading an Instructional Camera

For teachers, the most important feature is versatility—a sneaky way of saying the most important feature is having as many features as can be packed into the camera before rendering it uncontrollable.

The Caliper Framework Fills a Need for Classroom Video Analytics

Video learning systems are taking off in schools, but teachers have so far lacked a way to bring that data into their learning management systems. Enter Caliper.

Online Educators Enjoy Generous Copyright Exemptions for Video

Schools are covered by different copyright measures than the mass public, making it easy for streaming classrooms to get around access controls.

Today's Teachers Need to Learn to Perform in Front of a Camera

Teaching is a performance, but when teachers have to perform to a camera rather than a roomful of students, that performance can go awry.

Interactive Tools Make Classroom Video More Active Than Passive

New offerings from both young and established companies let educators create elaborate personalized videos, and students learn in a more natural way.

Looking to Improve Educational Video? First Improve the Audio

When schools go shopping for video production hardware, they should make audio quality a priority. Here's what to look for when buying new mics.

Educators, Prepare With This Supply List for Teaching With Video

Bringing video into the classroom doesn't have to be expensive. Read this helpful list to discover the seven basic items every classroom should have.

Writing Text for Video: Did Someone Say 'Autumn Aided Cap Shins'?

Maybe, but they probably said "automated captions." Creating reliable captions is a challenge, but educational video has a desperate need for it.

Find a Place for Live Video and Audio Streaming in the Classroom

Today's students grow up in a conflict-free echo chamber created by on-demand entertainment. Live streaming is a place for diverse opinions to come through.

Educators Need Better Video Analytics to Measure Learning

Measuring quality of service is big business in the streaming video world, but educational video metrics lag far behind. Part of the reason is that educators need completely different metrics.

3 Tips for Educators Getting Started With Video Lectures

Recording classroom lectures offers a host of benefits over delivering them live. Here's how instructors can ensure they get the best results.

Educators in a Hurry to Find a Video Solution for Blind Students

Starting in January, educational and training videos will need to be accessible to the blind, but audio descriptions are difficult to create. Is there a better option?

What Educational Video Producers Can Learn From Moneyball

Breaking out of conventional ways of thinking could pay big dividends for educational video production. Where is the art in today's classroom video?

More Than Enough Is Too Much: Educational Video Is Overused

Creating educational videos is easy—too easy—and that's a problem. To best reach students, educators need to diversify their presentation tools.

Colleges Need to Safeguard Video in a Standards-Based World

As more colleges and universities invest in video lessons, they're challenged to keep that content secure. Here's the strategy that makes the grade right now.

Shooting 4K Video in the Classroom: What's the Big Hurry?

For educational video, some choose to shoot in 4k so they can zoom and enhance in post, but stream in mobile-friendly 720p. However, there's no reason to rush to 4K just yet.

The State of Education Video 2017

Smaller companies are moving out, and big companies are muscling into their old space. Look for monolithic learning management systems to give way to more agile solutions.